Pneumatic carrier system



y 21, 1931-v J. M. SCANLA N 1,815,590

PNEUMATIC CARRIER SYSTEM Filed July-7, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 toz JOSL'PHM SCAIVL/W July 21, 1931.

J. M. scANLAN PNEUMATIC CARRIER SYSTEM 7 FiledJuly 7, 19:50

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2 Shuts-Sheet 2 o k I awumtoz JOJZ'PH M. JCANLAN Patented July 21, 1931UNITE stares arasr OFFICE grosnrrrn. spartan, or sneer nncn nnw roan,assrenon :r-o G a e A'r'LAs sysrnns; I N(7;, or NEW YORK, 1v. Y., A(Jonson-Arron or NEW YORK PNEUMATIC CARRIER SYSTEM Application filedJuly 7,

1930; Serial no. 465,829.

This invention relates to improvements in vantages of the invention maybe more clearpneumatic carrier systems, and particularly the centralstation equipment employed in such systems where money transactions andthe like are usually handled. A particular object of the invention hasbeen .to improve the equipment and method of handling the carriers" atthe central station so as to in crease generally the efficiency of thesystem 10 and reduce the timerequired vfor each transaction handled.

In systems of the type to which this invention relates it is customarytoprovide a networkof tubes within a store, or similar building, so thatcarriers may be delivered:

from any one of a plurality of stations scattered about the building toa central station at which a number of cashiers, or other opcraters, maybe located to perform the required transactions, such as the makingofchange and the like. After the appropriate transactions have beencompleted by the operators, the carriers are returned through adifferent set of tubes to the stations from .25 which they wereoriginally sent. A difiiculty which has been encountered heretofore 'inconnection with systems of this sort is that they are notsufiicientlyflexible to permit the efiicient handling of thetransactions during both rush and slack periods. If the system is sodesigned'as to effectively talre care of the peak load on the system,itthas heretofore been necessary to provide a great deal of excessequipment and to .so arrangethe' i same that it cannot be properly orefficiently utilized during slack periods by a smaller force. r e r v Animportant feature of the present invention has to do with theconstruction and;

' arrangement of the equipment employed in the handling of'the carriersat the' central station which is such that eflicient operation of thesystem may be obtained at all times. To thisend the equipment has beenso devised able number of operators or cashiers at the.

central station may be readily provided for without undue interferenceand with the pro;

duction of a substantially uniform standard of efficiency. The variousfeatures and .ad-

and arranged that the employment of a ivari ly. understood by referenceto the accompany,-

ment forming the other half of the central 7 station v Figure 3 is adetail, sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFigure l, and

Figure 4 is a detail, sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure2.

, Referring now to the drawings, a series of pneumatic tubes lOis shownas terminating directly above an inclined runway 11 These tubes, it willbe understood, extend to various points throughout a store or similarbuilding from which'it is desired to transmit cash or sales-slips, orthe like,to the central station. Tubes 12 may be connected in the usualway to the tubes 10 near the ends of the latter and may at theiropposite ends be connected to a suitable suction drum 13. It will beunderstood that this drum is maintained under a constant vacuum ofsuitable degree by any appropriate evacuating means, such as a. pump; Inthis way-each pair of tubes 10 and 1 2 creates a suction throughout theline fromthe central station to a particular point from which a carrieris to be originally dispatchedfl In Figure 1 only two of the tubes 10are shown but it will be clear that a large number of these tubes willbearranged in the space between the two shown, as more clearly indicatedin Figure 2. How many tubes are employed will depend upon the availablespace andthe size of the system.

the carriers are discharged onto the runway 11, they are permitted toroll down the same to a large table 14, having a central groove 14:1therein to guide and retain the carriers, At theopposite sides of thetable 14 there may be stationed at the points designated 15 and 16 apair of cashiers. or operators who are intended to handle the variousceived. For example, Where a cash transaction is involved, one or theother of the cashiers will open the carrier, remove the sales slip andmoney, make the necessary change, and return the carrier with the changeand a part of the sales slip to the point from which it was originallysent. As between the operators and 16, there will preferably be nodistinction as to which of the carriers each is intended to handle. Theywill merely alternate in the handling of any carriers which aredischarged by the chute 11 to the table 14. A similar pair of operatorsstationed at the points 17 and 18, as indicated in Figure 2, may beemployed for the handling of carriers which are discharged from asimilar chute, not shown, on the opposite or righthand side of theequipment.

In returning the carriers to the initial station, the operators merelyinsert the same into the open ends of the series of return tubes which,for reasons to be more full explained hereinafter, are preferablyarranged in two groups 19 and 20.7 These tubes, it will be understood,extend to the various points in the building at which the tubes 10 havetheir inlets. Any suitable means may be provided at these points forconnecting the tubes 10 with the tubes 19 and 20 so as to create thenecessary suction in the latter lines. It will be understood,furthermore, that the system should be provided with the usual valve construction for normally permitting the maintenance of a relatively smallamount of suction in the lines 10, 19 and 20 and for increas ing thissuction to the extent necessary to handle the carriers when the latterare in sorted in the ends of the tubes for transmission. Suitabledevices for this purpose are well known and form no part of the presentinvention. They are accordingly not shown or described in detail herein.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of means forrelieving the burden at the central desk 14 during the rush hours bydiverting certain of the carriers to another point where theyrmay bemore conveniently handled by one or more additional operators. For thispurpose a trap door 21 may be provided in the channel of the chute 11 atany suitable point where it will effect a line of division between thetubes 10 to the left of the same and those to the right. This door maybe pivoted in any suitable way or otherwise attached to the chute 11 andmay be held in a substantially vertical position Whenever it is desiredto effect a separation between the carriers. In lieu of securing thistrap to the chute, it may be removable from the latter so as to leave anopening in the base of the same through which the carriers above theopening will be dropped. However, the pivoted arrangement will not onlyleave such an opening but will provide a definite stop for the carriersand will cause the latter to be positively deflected to a chute 22 whichis inclined in the opposite direction so as to discharge the carriers toa table 23. This table may be provided with a suitable central groove 24for guiding and retaining the carriers.

One or more additional operators may be stationed at the pointsdesignated 25 and 26 for handling the transactions involved by thecarriers discharged onto the table 23. It will be apparent that thesecarriers will have been discharged from the tubes 10 which terminateabove the door or deflector 21 and that they must accordingly bereturned to the stations represented by these tubes. For this purpose aseries of tubes 27 are provided with their inlet ends just above thetable 23. Each of these tubes is connected in any suitable way, as bymeans of a Y fitting 28, to one of a series of tubes 29 to which one ofthe tubes 20 is also joined. By virtue of this arrangement it ispossible to return a carrier to any one of the stations corresponding tothe upper set of discharge tubes 10 by inserting the same in the openend of either the appropriate tube 20 or the corresponding tube 27. Inorder that the return tubes 20 and 27 may be used alternatively, it isnecessary to provide the same with closure means so that the vacuumcreated upon the insertion of a carrier into one of them will not bedestroyed by the other. For this purpose suitable closures or doors 30are provided at the ends of the tubes 20 and similar closures 31 areprovided at the ends of the tubes 27. These closures may be providedwith any suitable latching devices or detents for holding the sameagainst the ends of the tubes and any suitable means for boldin them inthe open position. Gravity may well be relied upon for the latterfunction.

A suitable construction of the chute 11 is illustrated in Figure 3. Asthere shown, the channel along which the carriers are intended to rollwill be preferably provided with a lining 32 of some suitable metal,such as copper, brass or the like. Similarly, the channels in the tables14 and 23 may be provided with suitable linings 33. It will beunderstood that in a system in which the central station equipment isduplicated on opposite sides of the central table 14, as has beenhereinbefore explained, an arrangement of chutes similar to that shownwill be provided on the righthand side of the equipment to permitcarriers discharged from lower tubes to be always directed to the table14 while carriers discharged from the upper series of delivery tubes onthis side may be directed to either the central table 14 or a separatetable corresponding to the table 23 and these carriers will be returnedaccordingly either through tubes corresponding to the tubes 20 orthrough ones corresponding to the tubes 27.

In the operation of the system during a rush period, the trap-door 21will be raised to the position indicated in Figures 1 and 3 and thetubes above or to the left of this door will discharge their carriersonto the table 23. The closures 31 at the ends of the tubes 2'7 will beopen whereas the closures 30 at the ends of the tubes will be closed.After the intended transaction has been completed by the cashier oroperator at the central station, the carrier will be inserted in theappropriate one of the tubes 19 and 27 corresponding to the tube 10from. which the carrier was discharged. At the peak of the rush periodit will probably be found desirable to employ eight cashiersstationed'as indicated at the points 15, 16, 17,18, and 26 and at twopoints at the opposite end of the equipment corresponding to the points25 and 26. Now, when the rush period has subsided to a certain extent,one or two of the cashiers at the central desk 14 may be relieved fromduty or one or more of the cashiers stationed opposite the table 23 andthe corresponding table at the other end of the system may be removed.Which of the cashiers will be removed under diiierent con ditions willdepend largely upon the arrangement of the tubes and the particularlocation of the door 21. If the upper ones 0! the tubes 10 extend to thebusiest points in the building and the line of division of the tubes isas indicated, one or more of the cashiers at the central desk 14 mayadvantageously be taken off duty first. However, if the lower sets oftubes are the busier ones, then the reverse Will probably be true. Inorder to produce even greater flexibility of operation of the system, aplurality of trap-doors, similar to 21, may be provided along the chute11 so that a variable number of the tubes 10 may be caused to dischargetheir carriers alternatively onto the table is or the table 23. Ifdesired, the carriers from an' intermediate group of tubes might bedirected to a third table, similar to the table 23, at the busiestperiods of the day.

During a very slack period in the operation of the system, both of theoperators stationed at 25 and 26 may be removed and assigned to otherduties and in this case the trap-door 21 will be lowered into the chuteand the closures 31 will be closed to seal the ends of the tubes 27. tthe same time the closures may be opened soas to permit the insertion ofcarriers which will now be discharged onto the table 14 from the tubes10 above or to the left of the trap-door 21.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the system contemplated bythe present invention is readily adapted to the employment of a variablenumber of operators, from one to eight in the illustrative embodiment,according to the amount of business transacted at any particular time.Obviously, this system may be modified to permit a larger 5. number ofoperators to be efi iciently emiployed, if.:sosidesired.'lVVhi-lmtheainuention l1as.;been.:-described in considerableldetail ,inconnection With ione s uitable illustrative embodiment of'the same, it.IS to be understood that many: variations illlil y be made. Withoutdeparting iromithe'rgcneral spirit and scope oi the jinvention. .The.Evarious terms employedherein havebeen. used .for purposes .xlofdescription and are notatokbe regarded as imposing; a 'ny limitations,onthe invention. :IV-hatfI-claim is: 1 i Y -1. In; centralstation-forpneumatic car.- rier systems, ,an inclinedrun-way,agplurality of tube ;terminals. adapted to discharge carriers onto saidrunway, means fordirecting the carriers fromsaidchute at will'toj anyone of a plurality-of dispatchstations, and tube inlets ,a'tsaidstations adapted to recciyezsaid carriersxjfor transmission to their.points of origln;1

2. In a central station for pneumaticucarrier systems, a pluralityo'fgtlube terminals adapted-to discharge carriers, uneans for con veyingallot said carriers when-discharged to any one ota plurality of stations,at wi11, and tube inlets at saidstations adapted to receivesaid-carriers fortransmission to their points oforigin. j v i 3. Iancentral-station iorpneumatic carrier systems, aplurality of tube@terminals adaptedto dischargexcarriers,means adapted to receivesaidcarriers,,when discharged; and convey the same "to dispatchstations,- said meansbeing adapted to convey carriers. discharged fromcertain of saidstubes at will to one or another of saidstations,andtiibe inlets,at all of said stations adapted to receivev said certaincarriersfor transmission to theiripoin'ts oforigin. 4. .In a centralstation for pneumatic carr iersyste ms,-a set of tube terminalsadaptedtodiScharge carriers, a pluralityof sets of tube inlets each.corresponding. tosaid set of tube terminals andmcans forconveyingsaidcarriers at will from said terminals toias'tationladjacent eitherot saidsetsofx-inlets.

5. In a central station fonpneumaticrcarrier systems, a set of tubeterminalsadapted to discharge. carriers,ia.,.pli1ra1ity of sets of tubeinlets each corresponding to said set of tube terminals, means forconveying said carriers at will from said terminals to a station adjacent either of said sets of inlets, and means for closing oif the otherof said said sets of inlets.

6. In a central station for pneumatic carrier systems, a set of tubeterminals adapted to discharge carriers, a plurality of sets of tubeinlets each corresponding to said set of tube terminals, a runwayadapted to convey said carriers to a point adjacent one of said sets ofinlets, and means adjustable at will for deflecting said carriers towarda point adjacent another of said sets of inlets.

7. In a central station for pneumatic carrier systems, a set of tubeterminals adapted to discharge carriers, a plurality of sets of tubeinlets each corresponding to said set of tube terminals, a runwayadapted to convey said carriers to a point adjacent one of said sets ofinlets for insertion therein, means for deflecting said carriers at willtoward a point adjacent another of said sets of inlets for insertiontherein, and means for closing off the set of inlets not to receive saidcarriers.

8. In a central station for pneumatic car rier systems, a plurality oftube terminals arranged in groups, means adapted to receive carriersfrom said tube terminals and convey the same to a dispatch station,means adjustable at will for deflecting the carriers from one of saidgroups of tubes and conveying the same to another dispatch station, andtube inlets at said stations adapted to receive said carriers fortransmission to their points of origin.

9. In a central station for pneumatic carrier systems, a plurality oftube terminals arranged in groups, means adapted to receive carriersfrom said tube terminals and convey the same to a dispatch station,means adjustable at Will for deflecting the carriers from one of saidgroups of tubes and conveying the same to another dispatch station, tubeinlets at said stations adapted to receive said carriers fortransmission to their points of origin, certain of said tube inlets atsaid first mentioned station being interconnected with the inlets at theother station, and means for closing ofl the related inlets at one orthe other of said stations.

10. The method of handling carriers at a central station of a pneumaticcarrier system which comprises continuously directing a portion of thecarriers to one dispatch station, alternatively directing anotherportion of the carriers to the same or a different dispatch station, andreturning the carriers from said dispatch stations directly to theirpoints of origin.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this2nd day of July, 1930.

JOSEPH M. SCAN LAN.

